Rehabilitating Lady Malfoy
by ViolaMoon
Summary: Percy Weasley is chosen to spearhead the new Magical Criminal Rehabilitation Unit. Here he is chosen to rehabilitate the more high-profile criminals. When he receives Narcissa Malfoy as a rehabilitee, he thinks it will be plain sailing, how wrong could he be?


**This story was also written for the Quarter-final Round of the Seventh Season of the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition: In It Together**

**I'm writing as Chaser 1 for The Tutshill Tornados.**

**Chaser 1 prompt: Write a story using your Chaser 2's main location from their first QL fic this season – Kefalion's fic Pink Toads, Pompous Politicians, and Impossible Old Geezers was set in the Ministry of Magic.**

**These are the prompts I'm using as a chaser to score some extra points:**

**2\. [quote] 'To be clear, the source of shame wasn't that they were all thieves, it was that they'd been caught.' — Fire and Heist, Sarah Beth Durst**

**4\. [Character] Narcissa Malfoy**

**6\. [Character] Percy Weasley**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any part of the world J.K. Rowling has created. It's all hers, from Diagon Alley to Hogwarts to all the people living there.**

**Thanks to my fantastic team for betaing!**

**A/N: AUish in that Percy goes to work within the Department of Magical Law Enforcement after the war instead of Magic Transportation & Draco and Lucius Malfoy are in Azkaban.**

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**Title: Rehabilitating Lady Malfoy**

**Words: 2621**

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Percy Weasley sat at his new desk. The division had received a small number of offices, squeezed in between the Auror Headquarters and the Magical Law Enforcement Squad. The division he was now in charge of had the use of a couple of old interrogation chambers, called rehabilitation chambers, which had seen many lesser Death Eaters and corrupt officials grace its walls.

One problem, of many, had arisen at the end of the Second Wizarding War. What should be done with the witches and wizards who were guilty of aiding and abetting Voldemort and his Death Eaters but not guilty of severe enough crimes to earn imprisonment in Azkaban? Admittedly most of the suspects deserved to go to Azkaban, but there were a select few that had made amends for their actions, and that should be taken into consideration. Some had defected at the last minute, some had failed to give someone up to their comrades, and some had leaked information to the Order. There were also some who'd not directly aided the Regime of You-Know-Who, but who'd passively allowed the Ministry to be usurped.

To deal with these people the new Minister for Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, wished to expand the current Department of Magical Law Enforcement to include a new division focused on the rehabilitation of minor criminals. Shacklebolt choose Percy Weasley to spearhead the new Magical Criminal Rehabilitation Unit, and he was determined to live up to the faith that had been placed in him. He had hurt those closest to him, and he passionately agreed with the Ministers new decree, that Department and Division Heads had to actively participate in the activities of their department, not just act as leaders.

Admittedly, Percy had fewer rehabilitees than his subordinates, but he was often assigned the high-profile cases. Such as the case with the rehabilitee whose file lay before him. Printed on the cover was: NARCISSA MALFOY. She had been a surprise to Percy. She had not been sent to Azkaban though she had actively housed Lord Voldemort in her home. She had been in the inner circle, but at a vital moment, she had betrayed Lord Voldemort

A knock came at the door, and Percy's secretary popped her head through the door. "Mr Weasley? Mrs Malfoy is ready for you in Rehab Room 2."

"Thank you, Annabelle." He rose from his desk, placed the case file under his arm, and put a small bottle of ink and a quill in the pocket of his robes. "I will be there shortly."

As he exited his office, Percy reviewed the case in his head. Mrs Malfoy had been placed under house arrest at the end of the war, and now, a year on, she had been allowed to leave under certain conditions. He was to discuss these conditions with her today, to go over the terms of her rehabilitation and generally gauge her willingness to cooperate in the rehabilitation process.

The Rehab Room was barren with a simple steel table and two slightly uncomfortable chairs on either side. As Percy entered the room, he examined his rehabilitee. Pale with long blonde hair. She was a beautiful woman, that Percy couldn't deny, though the sour expression she wore diminished it. Mrs Malfoy sat stiffly in her chair, her hands gathered elegantly together in her lap.

"Mrs Malfoy, I do apologise for the wait," Percy said as he sat down in front of her. He placed the case file down on the table, arranged the ink and quill, and opened the file.

"Not at all, Mr Weasley." Her voice was cold and without emotion as if she did not want to reveal something about herself unnecessarily. She continued to act uninterested, her eyes fixed on the door behind him.

Percy cleared his throat and pulled a piece of parchment out of the file. "Well, as was mentioned in the owl that invited you here, you are no longer under house arrest. That being said, you are not entitled to live freely as of yet. You are to be placed under supervision by the Watchers when you are out in public." Percy paused, hoping to see a reaction, but there was none. "You may leave Malfoy Manor and visit others, but those activities will be reported to this Division, and we will hold regular meetings to gauge your rehabilitation process."

"Does this mean that I can now visit my son in Azkaban?" she asked, and Percy saw something that resembled life in her eyes for the first time.

"You may, but these visits will be supervised by Aurors," Percy agreed, and he swore he saw her smile, just a little bit. He wondered though why she had not asked to visit her husband. "You may also visit your husband if you want to."

The sour expression returned. "No, that won't be necessary." A sore subject, apparently, Percy thought but didn't press for more. He knew Mrs Malfoy was a proud woman and wouldn't readily disclose information.

Percy pulled a form out of the file, signed it and handed it across the table. "If you give this to the guards at Azkaban, they will allow you to arrange visitation sessions with your son." She took it and looked at it in a way he had not expected, he saw hope and longing. She must have missed him, he thought as he pulled out the next piece of parchment in her file.

"Okay. Well then. Other than that, we have assigned your rehabilitation task," Percy continued, handing her a copy. "You are to provide housekeeping at the Diagon Alley Orphanage for two hours each day Monday to Friday. Do you have any questions?"

Narcissa read over the rehabilitation order and shook her head. "No, this answers all my questions." She raised the parchment. Percy couldn't help but notice the hint of a glint in her eye, he had chosen this specifically as he knew how much she missed her son and also by seeing the true victims of that awful war, the children, she might better realise the error of her ways.

Percy's thoughts momentarily clouded as he thought of his family's victim, Fred. Fred may have been an adult at the time of his death, but Fred was his little brother, and Percy had failed to protect him.

Percy straightened his robes and gathered his papers, running through the mental checklist in his mind. He had informed her of the conditions of her rehabilitation. He had also provided information about her task and answered her questions. Yes, that was all of it, he thought.

"Well, that will be all if you don't have anything else to add." Percy got up, Mrs Malfoy did the same, and they shook hands.

"No, I have nothing else to add," she confirmed. Percy picked up his papers, placing them in their case file again and then escorted Mrs Malfoy from the room, before heading back to his office.

It had gone well. He knew from his own experience and that of his subordinates, that some did not take kindly to being watched or ordered to repay wizarding society. Percy struggled to understand this because who wouldn't follow the order of the Ministry? Luckily for him, Narcissa Malfoy was an upstanding, pure-blooded witch who would not create a fuss by refusing ministry orders. She had a reputation to rebuild, with both her husband and son in Azkaban. He looked forward to watching her progress, this should be an easy case to administrate.

xx

That is what it seemed like for a while. Percy was happy to read that Mrs Malfoy was attending her rehabilitation tasks regularly and did not shy from the manual labour involved—she was expected to clean the Muggle way. Even Percy was surprised by that. As a pure-blood witch from the Black and Malfoy families, he hadn't expected her to take kindly to manual labour nor perform it well. Her acceptance and good humored attitude had annoyed a few of the rehabilitation wizards in his unit. They had wanted her to suffer. Percy had wanted it too. He could admit to himself that he'd wanted her to suffer, if only a little bit. But his position as Head of the Unit meant that he couldn't visibly show it. He was a public official, after all, and he had to show that he believed in the rehabilitation process. But deep down... deep down, he was hurting.

As Percy sat at his desk, he pulled over a picture. It was an old cut out from the Daily Prophet, from back when his father had won the Daily Prophet Grand Prize Galleon Draw. It showed most of the family (excluding Charlie) happily waving at the camera. Percy's eyes rested on Fred, who goofily smiled up at him.

The hurt left by the death of his brother was raw and constant. Every time he saw George without Fred, the wound reopened just a little. Every time he visited home, his mother was fighting tears, his father hid away in his shed, tinkering to give his wounded soul something to do. Inside... inside Percy was hurting as much as them, and he was working to rehabilitate the same people who hurt his family, but at the same time, Percy felt that he was partly to blame for Fred's was both the rehabilitator and the rehabilitee.

A knock at the door pulled Percy from his thoughts. "Come in," he said, shaking his head to pull himself out of the cloud of grief that loomed above him.

His secretary, Annabelle, stepped in and handed him a message. His eyes grew wide as he read it , and then a frown appeared on his face. This doesn't make any sense, he thought.

"They brought her into Rehab Room 2," Anabelle said.

Percy nodded, pointing his wand at his file cabinet. It sprang open and then with another flick of his wand, he said, "Accio case file NM."

He stood, catching the file mid-air and then moved silently through the halls of the unit. This made no sense. What had brought her to do such a thing? And there of all places? Percy couldn't fathom her reasons, but he would find out.

Narcissa Malfoy sat in the same chair as she had done in the previous meeting, only this time, her eyes were downcast as she refused to look anyone in the eye. Her shoulders were slack and her hands shook. The Narcissa Malfoy Percy knew sat proud, her body language haughty and disdainful, and this was not the same woman.

"Mrs Malfoy…" Percy said as he sat down. He looked over the note again and bit his lip. How was he going to get her to explain this? Ascertaining whether the note was true was the first step.

"Would you care to explain this note?" He held it up before starting to read. "Rehabilitee Narcissa Malfoy found shoplifting in Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes. Upon search, several stolen objects were found upon her person. Detained for questioning by Magical Criminal Rehabilitation."

If the woman's head could sink any lower, it would have. "It is true," she confirmed, her voice so low that Percy had to strain to hear her.

"Why?" he asked, and then his confusion stilled his tongue for a moment. He had to refocus his question. "Why are you stealing things? You have money, more money than most even after the Ministry seized most of the Malfoy accounts. You certainly don't need to steal."

"Why?" Mrs Malfoy repeated the question. "Because that orphanage is grossly underfunded. Those children... they were so sad…" She produced a handkerchief and blotted her eyes which shone wildly. "I don't regret it. They need those things…"

"But why steal them? You could easily afford them. Or use one of your many contacts. It doesn't make sense. Particularly for someone of your social standing." He looked Mrs Malfoy over. He could feel her shame, but something felt off. She didn't seem to regret stealing. She felt justified in her actions. So what was she ashamed of exactly? Percy couldn't make heads or tails of her actions. "Please, enlighten me. This doesn't make any sense," he pleaded. Percy realised that he was losing his composure, so he sat up straight, pressed down his hair which had fallen out of place during the flight from his office and sat curious and ready for her to explain herself.

"Well... " Mrs Malfoy hesitated. "I had every intention of paying... at first. But then by accident, an item was placed in my shopping basket that I hadn't paid for. I meant to go back. I meant to pay, honestly. But there was a thrill…" she added, a hand pressed over her heart, and she gave a soft smile. "A thrill I hadn't felt in a long time. Not since I was a young girl with my sisters, and I couldn't resist it."

Percy nodded, taking his quill out of his pocket and started to take notes while she continued talking.

"I only took for the children... never for myself. Clothes, toys, sweets... anything to bring smiles to their sweet faces. They remind me of Draco so much, and I miss him." She broke down, covering her eyes with the handkerchief as she sobbed. "They still have the innocence that Draco has lost."

Percy sat shocked; for such a stoic, dignified woman to break down, she must have had this bottled up for some time. He felt a connection to her. He too grieved the loss of innocence the war had brought around. The loss of Fred and so many others. They sat in silence until she calmed down. He waited until her breathing returned to normal and she sat up straight.

"How long has this been going on?" he asked, his voice probing yet sympathetic.

They sat in silence for a moment longer. "Since our last meeting." Percy felt his jaw drop, and he reined it in quickly. Their last meeting had been two months ago. How had she gotten away with it for so long? There were supposed to be people watching her. What were they doing? He surveyed the woman in front of him, and she seemed proud of this. Proud of the fact that she had gotten away with it for so long.

Percy looked down at the note once more and tried to clear his thoughts. He couldn't let his emotions, his own grief, cloud his judgement. She was a rehabilitee, and she'd broken the law once more.

"While I understand that you had good intentions, Mrs Malfoy… it doesn't excuse your methods," Percy said, using his wand to summon a stack of papers. He started filling them out. Once one was complete, it flew out of his hands and out of the door as a little paper aeroplane.

"You are once again under house arrest pending a formal hearing," he informed her. He saw her body sink in disappointment and shame. "Once that is over, you will be allowed to continue working at the Orphanage… under supervised conditions that is… it is the best I can do." He shrugged and gave her a signed parchment. "Your hearing will take place here."

The door opened, and an Auror came in, ready to escort her home. "That will be all," Percy said, collecting the new stack of papers and adding it to her case file.

"Thank you, Mr Weasley," Mrs Malfoy said as she stood up. "Thank you for understanding." Percy watched as she was escorted away. He hoped that she didn't end up in Azkaban for this. If he could save just one person, it would make this job worth it.


End file.
